A Template-Free and Surfactant-Free Method for High-Yield Synthesis of Highly Monodisperse 3-Aminophenol–Formaldehyde Resin and Carbon Nano/Microspheres

A template-free and surfactant-free method for the synthesis of highly monodisperse phenol formaldehyde resin and corresponding carbon nano/microspheres with excellent size tunability has been developed for the first time after investigating a series of phenol derivatives, including 3-methylphenol, 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene, 2-aminophenol, 3-aminophenol, and 4-aminophenol. The method is based on the polymerization reaction of 3-aminophenol and formaldehyde in the mixture solutions of water and ethanol to generate 3-aminophenol/formaldehyde (APF) resin colloidal spheres. The sizes of APF resin colloidal spheres are tunable in a very broad range from 80 nm up to 2500 nm by changing reaction conditions. The excellent thermal stability of APF resins allows the generation of monodisperse carbon spheres by the pyrolysis of APF resin spheres with high yields. Both APF resin spheres and corresponding carbon spheres are so monodisperse (polydispersity <3%) that can form three-dimensional periodic structures. The method has striking features of excellent monodispersity, very broad size tunability, high yield, smooth sphere surface, and easy preparation. This approach also holds great promise for the large-scale production of resin spheres and carbon spheres.